Finally got around to doing this. This was a small project I did over the course of my graduating term. It was honestly something I had to do to revisit my drawing roots and why I picked up a pencil and started drawing when I was a kid.

The following are my re-imagining of a few main characters within Water Margin as animals indigenous to China.

But for a little background, Water Margin (also known as Outlaws of the Marsh), is one of the four great Chinese classical novels, alongside “Journey to the West”, “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”, and “Dream of the Red Chamber”.

The tale is a tale of brotherhood, corrupt governments, renegade justice, and honor among thieves. Imagine Robin Hood with a mix of Chaucer, in the style of Guy Ritchie & Quentin Tarantino, written in prose during 14th century China.

My goal was to marry the western ideologies in art with my drawing style, and most importantly, to the settings in which the story took place. I took generous liberties, but part of the challenge was to use my experience and knowledge of cultures to cater this "Chinese product" to a broader western audience.

In this reiteration of mine, instead of a necklace being thrown into the night skies, the Chieftain shoots a magic arrow into the night sky for his sons to find. Yvainne is the Thunderbird who gets shot out of the sky by the old Chieftain's magic arrow and is sapped of her powers.

In this version, Lamia is an exiled shaman who believes that he can regain eternal youth by eating the heart of the Thunderbird.

Tristan is a store-clerk in a frontier-town who promises a girl from town that he will investigate the bright flash in the sky and bring back evidence of his journey. He goes into the canyon maze and finds the magical world beyond the canyons.